Rituals
Chapter 4
Part I
Introduction
 Ritual can be defined as patterned,
recurring sequence of events
 When these acts involve religious
symbols, prayers, reading or saying
sacred words, etc. it is a religious ritual
The Basics
 Religious rituals are a lot like plays. They
have:
 Actors (shamans or priests)
 Words (prayers, spells, sacred text)
 Sets (altar, church, mosque)
 Props (incense, masks, robes)
 They also have music and dancing
The Basics
 So what makes a play not a religious
ritual?
 It is not to entertain
 The audience actively participates
The Basics
 Religious practices most commonly have
ritual and myth
 These are tied to worldview
 Audience participates and rituals help
stabilize society and unify the group
The Basics
 What are some familiar religious rituals?
The Basics
Types of Rituals
 Prescriptive rituals: required to be
performed
 ex. Command to keep Sabbath holy
 Situational rituals: spontaneous, can be
during times of crisis
 Sept. 11th
Types of Rituals
 Periodic/Calendrical rituals: performed
on a regular basis
 ex. Sunday church, Passover, Ramadan
 Occasional rituals: performed when the
need arises
 Marriage ceremonies, funerals
Classification of Rituals
 Anthony Wallace created categories of
types of rituals
 Pg. 79
 Include rituals that try to:
 Control nature
 Heal the sick
 Maintain peace in a community
 Rites of passage (stages in life cycle)
Technological Rituals
 Attempt to control or influence nature
 Used with hunter/gatherers or people
who rely on nature for survival
 Common among Native American
groups
 Ex. Thanking an animal that you have
hunted for its meat and skin
Technological Rituals
 Read the Inuit creation myth (pg. 81)
Technological Rituals
 Seal hunts are part of their survival
 Success depends on Mother of the Sea
 Seals have souls and rituals pay respect
to seals they hunt
 Creation myths, world views influence
rituals
Lakota buffalo ritual
Protective Rituals
 Are used before dangerous activities
 May be done before each activity or
when an unexpected event occurs
 Ex. The Vikings ‘blooded the keel’ of a
new ship (human sacrifice)
 Today we break a bottle of champagne
on a new ship
Social Rites of Intensification
 These maintain normal functioning of
society
 Teach good/evil; moral/immoral; how to
act/how not to act
 Ex. Sabbath, Easter, Rosh Hashanah
(rituals can belong to more than 1
category)
 Ex. Jewish practice of reciting kaddish at
someone’s funeral
 Reaffirms their faith
Offerings and Sacrifices
 Many rituals try to communicate with
deities
 People give gifts, bribes, money, etc. in
the hopes the gods will return the favor
 The difference is that in a sacrifice blood
is shed and in an offering gifts are
exchanged
Offerings and Sacrifices
 Human sacrifices have been common
through history
 Aztecs fed human blood to the Sun so
the world would not end
 Those sacrificed believed they would
become gods
 Would cut open the chest and remove
victim’s still-beating heart
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk2E
1CoGe98
Assignment
 Read and discuss handout on sacrifices in your
groups.
Healing Rituals
 Cultures have different explanations for
what makes people sick
 Ethnobotany is using medical plants to
help cure people
 We have made many common drugs
out of medicinal plant knowledge
Healing Rituals
 Therapy rituals focus on curing those who
are sick
 Anti-therapy rituals are those that try to
bring illness, accident, or death to others
 Ex. Fore of New Guinea take a something
associated with an enemy, recites a spell
and buries it. They believe this will cause
person to develop kuru
Video
 Taboo: Healing Rituals
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_5Hkm4A
R8
 What types of healing rituals are in the videos?
 What elements from lecture are demonstrated?
 Do these rituals ‘work’? Explain your answer
Part II
Salvation and Revitalization
 Salvation rituals involve a person
changing in some way, usually being
possessed or having altered state of
consciousness
 Revitalization rituals aim to return to the
traditional way of doing things
Rites of Passage
 These are rituals that mark a certain life
stage or the transition of status
 Ex are birth, naming rites, puberty,
marriage, death
 In some societies naming rites are
delayed because of high infant mortality
 Other examples: circumcision, bat
mitzvahs, quinceaneras,
Rites of Passage
 These can also be coming-of-age rituals,
especially to mark puberty
 Also called initiations
 Girls are usually separated from the
group
 Initiations are usually more complex for
boys than for girls
 Rituals involve separation, modifying
body, wearing different clothes, getting
a different name, etc.
Rites of Passage
 Initiations has an important phases:
 Liminality : ambiguous phase during the
change
 Usually there is communitas, or the bonding
of everyone going through the same phase
 Rites are very difficult and show that the
person can be an adult (pain, separation)
 In the US, military initiation is a rite of
passage. Describe why
Initiation with Pain
 Taboo: Initiation
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2GmB5sNZ
eQ
 Questions:
 What is the purpose of the initiation ceremony?
 What aspects from lecture are demonstrated?
Altering the Body
 Can be temporary or permanent
 Often during rites of passage
 Includes tattooing, piercing, and
scarification
Permanent Altering
 Tattooing, branding, stretching,
circumcision
 Tattoo is Tahitian for “to mark or strike”
 What are social implications in the US
about tattoos?
 They can mark social identity
Horimono tattoo:
Pay homage to ancestors
Some African tribes use
stretching to show wealth
Scarification
as initiation
Video
 Taboo: “Marks of Identity”
 Questions:
 How do the neck rings and tattoos mark these
groups’ cultural identities?
 How are these considered rituals?
Genital Cutting
 Circumcision is very common and also
accepted in Western cultures
 What is the reason for doing it?
 Male circumcision is a common rite of
passage
 Though much older and no anesthesia or
scalpels
 Initiations should show pain tolerance
Genital Cutting
 There is one practice that is almost
universally condemned
 Female circumcision or clitoridectomy in
which the clitoris and/or labia are
removed
 Vaginal opening can be sewn almost shut
 Keeps a woman “pure” until her husband
has sex with her
 Female domination, health issue, human
rites issue
In-Class Assignment
 ICA #3: Article on FGM
Pilgrimages
 Sacred places occur in creation myths
and these become places worshipers
visit
 Muslims  Mecca
 Jews and Christians  Jerusalem
 Hindus  River Ganges
 May also be sites of miracles
Religious Obligations
 Actions performed by a group or
individual
 Saying grace, kissing a mezuzah (on
doorway), lighting a candle
 We know of behaviors that are
appropriate for religious rites, but how do
we know what is inappropriate?
Tabu or Taboo
 Tabu means things that are restricted,
forbidden, or off limits
 In marriage, incest is usually a tabu
 In a Polynesian chiefdom, the chief is
sacred because he was given power by
the gods. Everything he touches is
sacred, so he is carried everywhere
 Jewish tradition of keeping kosher
 Prohibits pork
 Rules for slaughter and preparation
Discussion
 1. What are rituals performed in your own culture
(at school, work, at sporting events, religious
ceremonies, etc.)?
 2. Discuss a rite of passage you have had or
have attended. Identify the phases.
 3. How do we identify adulthood in the US? Is
there a specific rite of passage for this? Is there a
formal marker of adulthood?